Werewolves, Vampires, and Everything Inbetween
by lauren6498
Summary: Many, many years before the Cullens met Bella Swan, they encountered a different girl, one who needed a family. She joined them, but not as a vampire. She was something else. Maybe, just maybe, she's the missing puzzle piece. (Starts book 1 and continues from there...eventual Seth/OC)
1. Prologue

Prologue

-1983-

The streets of Seattle were silent, until a terrified scream ripped its way out of the throat of a young girl. All of a sudden, she rounded the corner of a building, sprinting down the middle of the road away from whatever danger stalked her.

She had known better than to go to the park so late, but had gone anyway. And that mistake could have possibly just ended her life. Now there was a hunter chasing after her. A Fae hunter.

As she passed by an alleyway, a hand yanked her arm towards it and shoved her to the ground. The girl was up in moments, fighting stance ready as she stared down her attacker.

There were not many Fae hunters left in the world, and even less Fae, but both were incredibly dangerous. He was dressed in the all green garb of the hunters, weapons at his sides. The only thing his eyes showed were immense fury and hate directed at the girl, who was no more than sixteen years of age. She wasn't as trained in combat as he was, but she had other skills on her side. Neither of them was going down without a fight.

The hunter made his move first and the fight began. Both of them landed plenty of hits on the other, inflicting many wounds. The girl didn't particularly want to kill him, but if it meant she would be able to get away then she would.

At one point during the battle, the hunter dislocated the girl's shoulder and threw her into the brick building next to them. The air was knocked out of her lungs and she couldn't even scream as he was by her side in seconds, shoving his long dagger into her abdomen. It was buried to the hilt, and he ripped it out, the serrated edge catching on one of her ribs and cracking it. The dagger was a weapon designed to kill with one stab. Especially when one considered the deadly poultice of herbs that would kill a fae if not treated.

Before the hunter could stab again, the Fae opened her mouth and screamed an unearthly scream. He stumbled backwards as the shriek shattered his eardrums. It was a call for help.

The girl slumped back against the wall, exhausted from using her power while injured. Once she was silent again, the hunter removed his hands from his ears and started towards her with an even more intense determination on his face. He didn't make it, though, as he suddenly went flying back in the air as a figure appeared out of nowhere.

It was a woman, with long brown hair. She was facing away from the girl as she took up a defensive stance in front of the fae.

"If you know what's good for you, you will leave and never return," the woman threatened. The girl was almost entranced by her voice. It was musical and twinkling, yet still held the anger and threat needed to get her point across.

"Vampire," the hunter hissed, backing up towards the street. He knew he would not win against the woman. He glanced behind the vampire and towards the injured fae, glaring. "This is not over." With those four words, he turned and ran down the street away from danger.

Once the woman was sure he was gone, she spun quickly and was by the fae's side in a flash. The girl was bleeding, badly, and while the vampire hadn't been hunting in a week, the fae's blood did not appeal to her. It was strange.

"I'm going to have to pick you up so I can get you to safety," the woman soothed, gently sliding her arms underneath the girl's beaten body. The fae nodded and tensed, keeping a hand pressed to her abdomen, as she was lifted off the ground. Her dislocated shoulder made her arm hang down uselessly while every step the woman took jarred her ribs.

With an inhuman speed, the woman ran towards her house on the outskirts of the city where she knew she could help the young girl. They were there in less than a minute, the girl's breathing becoming labored.

Carlisle, Emmett, and Rosalie were waiting by the door when the woman, who was known as Esme, returned. They had smelt the blood when she entered the property, and wanted to know what was going on.

"Get her upstairs," Carlisle ordered as Esme handed Emmett the girl, who was only half-conscious. Emmett speeded up, passing Alice on the way. Once Esme had saved her, Alice had started seeing the girl's future intertwined with theirs. She wasn't worried, as the girl would survive this.

"Where'd you find her?" Carlisle asked as he cut off the girl's shirt.

"Alleyway. I heard her screaming. She was being attacked and I fought him off," Esme replied, pulling on rubber gloves to assist her husband. After her shirt was off, Carlisle injected a painkiller into her neck, causing her to whimper. Not long after that, she passed out.

"She's just a kid," Esme remarked as she cleaned the blood and dirt off of the fae's face. The vampire had thought that the girl had been Rosalie's age when she found her, but she actually closer to Alice's.

"I need to stop the bleeding," Carlisle answered, and set to work on the stab wound in her abdomen.

"Carlisle, are you going to change her?" Esme inquired softly. He froze for a moment before returning to his work.

"I do not know," he muttered. He was not even sure she could be changed into a vampire. It looked as if she was not even human at all, but something else. Something he hadn't seen before.

The married couple worked for a couple of hours before Carlisle was satisfied with the way the fae was stable. After setting up an IV drip, he and Esme left the room and headed towards their adopted children were waiting.

Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and Edward were sitting in the family room, listening to a radio show and playing card games. Once Carlisle and Esme entered, however, their attention was immediately on the two elder vampires.

"The girl is stable and I don't believe she will become a vampire," Carlisle announced.

"She won't," Alice agreed. "Her body wouldn't allow it."

"What do you mean?" Esme questioned, sitting down elegantly in a chair near the door.

"She's a fae," Edward answered for her, reading Alice's mind.

"Interesting," Carlisle murmured. "According to myths, most of the fae were destroyed during the medieval ages. Very few are still alive. In fact, there are more fae hunters than there are fae."

"The man attacking her must have been a hunter then," Esme added.

"He was, but fortunately he will go after a different fae and meet an untimely death in a few years time," Alice informed the pair.

"Are you going to let her stay with us? I've always wanted a younger sister," Rosalie inserted.

"I suppose it is up to her. Would any of you have a complaint against that happening?" Esme asked. Everybody shook his or her head as a sign of allowance.

"If she wants to, she can live with us," Carlisle announced, grasping onto Esme's hand as he listened to the steady heartbeat of the girl upstairs.

She was out for five days, healing quickly. It was as if her body was not going to let her wake until she was mostly healed. After a quick examination on the fifth day of her unconsciousness, Carlisle was able to conclude that her rib was almost fully healed along with her stab wound. He had also concluded that she had advanced healing, but she wasn't healing as fast as usual. The only thing he'd been able to come up with was that whatever she'd been stabbed with had had poison or some other substance on the blade. The bruises and scrapes seemed to be healing at a normal rate, however, making the doctor think that her body only healed the severe wounds quickly and let the non-life threatening ones heal normally.

As Esme was changing the bandage on her arm, the girl started to wake up. Carlisle must have heard it as well for he was upstairs in moments. The girl was slow in waking up, groaning and moving around before finally opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling.

"Hello," Esme said, drawing the attention of the girl to her, and was shocked when she noticed her eyes. They were a Glass Forest with long eyelashes that swept over them. They made her almost-invisible freckles and slightly tan skin pop. Her hair, a dark chocolate brown, made her eyes have even more pop.

"Where am I? Who are you?" she asked in a smooth, exotic voice that was underlined with terror and a small hint of fear. Her accent was almost a combination of British, Scottish, and something else Esme could not place.

"My name's Esme and this is my husband, Carlisle. You are at our house," Esme replied soothingly.

"Why?"

"You were attacked, so I brought you here." A look of realization passed over the fae's face.

"Joseph! He found me in the park and I ran! We fought and then you—you saved me!" the girl blurted, surprised. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble at all," Esme assured her.

"Can you tell us your name?" Carlisle inquired.

"Aviana," the girl breathed. "But I go by Ava most of the time."

"It's nice to meet you, Ava," Esme greeted, holding out a hand for the girl to shake.

"You know what I am, don't you?" Aviana asked. The couple nodded. "Well, I know what you are too."

"Really?" Carlisle chuckled.

"You're vampires," she stated. Esme smiled slightly and nodded.

"We wanted to offer you something," Carlisle told her. She looked slightly confused.

"What?"

"The chance at a family."

Aviana was frozen. From her senses, she could tell there were five others downstairs. She didn't know these people, and they didn't know her. But she was being offered a place to live, a family. A family was something she did not have at that point in time. They had been slaughtered in a battle with the hunters many years prior. She missed having others around her. She absolutely hated being alone. Which was why it didn't take her long to give them her answer.

"Yes."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I changed a few things from the original time I uploaded this, but nothing major. Please favorite, follow, and review! 3 -Lauren


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

-Ava-

Alice had been sent to wake me up that morning. I slept like the dead (ironic, considering vampires are considered un-dead but they don't sleep) and usually didn't wake up to an alarm. My adoptive siblings generally took turns waking me up for school. The methods of how I woke up were different depending on who did the waking. With Rosalie, she simply ripped away the covers and tossed a cute outfit at me. With Emmett, he pulled me out of my bed and into the hallway so that I had to be awake in order to stand and go back into my room. With Jasper, he simply manipulated my emotions. Most of the time he made me excited or giddy, except for the one time when I made him mad and he woke me up by scaring me. With Edward, he just shook me awake and read off whatever vulgar thoughts I was thinking until I was able to wake up fully.

Alice was different. She liked to throw open the curtains-rather cruel considering the sun rose right outside my window-and then pull me out of bed. She would tell me what to wear to school, do my hair and makeup, and then force me downstairs where Esme would have food waiting for me.

Esme loved the fact that I ate actual food. Everyone in our family enjoyed cooking, but her the most. It had been rare that she had a reason to cook before I came. Since I had joined them, I had been eating 5-star restaurant style meals. It made eating at the school cafeteria hard.

"Alice," I groaned, turning over to escape the light and the cool air as Alice glided around my room.

"Come on, up and at 'em," Alice said, her voice musical and light. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. "I have a really cute outfit for you today. I think you'll really like it. Plus, you'll turn all the boys' eyes."

"I don't want all the boys' eyes, I want sleep," I mumbled, knowing full well that she could hear me.

"Oh well," she sighed, humming contently as she pulled back the covers and used her strength to pull me into a standing position, holding me steady as I tilted from the sudden movement.

"Alice," I protested, whining slightly. It was a Monday and they had all kept me up late with reminiscent tales.

"Hush, hush," Alice replied, putting a finger over my face. "You and I both know that you fall asleep whenever I do your hair, so the sooner we get to that part, the sooner you can sleep again." I sighed. She was right. Whenever she did my hair and makeup in the morning, I dozed off while she babbled on.

"Fine," I gave in, letting her strip off my outer clothes and quickly into a knee-length dress with tights. She had me step into ankle booties which she tied faster than I could follow and then I was shoved into a chair in my ensuite bathroom while Alice tugged a brush through my hair.

"I much prefer when Jasper wakes me up," I told her, wincing when she yanked through a knot.

"You look much better when I do, though," she answered. Alice continued talking about something I wasn't following and I slipped into a half-awake, half-asleep haze. By the time she was done, I was almost asleep. Fate was cruel, however, as she pulled me up off the chair before I could fully slip into that peaceful escape.

Despite hating being woken up earlier whenever Alice came for me, I did appreciate how good I looked...afterwards. I always despised it beforehand but when it came down to it, I was always grateful that Alice made me look good for school.

"Thanks, Alice," I mumbled, slinging my bag onto my shoulder and walking down the steps to the kitchen. I had the closest bedroom to the kitchen, something that had changed three months after we moved here and I had been getting up more and more for midnight snacks.

Due to my fae nature, I burned calories quickly. The energy inside of me burned any junk or excess off no matter what level of activity I was doing. The result was me being lean and muscular with almost below the healthy human range of 8% body fat. My siblings constantly had to carry around snacks for whenever I was hungry-I would get very grouchy-and it was rare that I would forget to eat.

"Morning," I greeted, sitting down at the stool in front of the bar-top island. Esme smiled from her place at the stove as Carlisle pushed a cup of coffee towards me. I mouthed a 'thank you' and quickly gulped half of it down. Edward was sitting at the barstool next to me reading the Seattle-based newspaper, most likely discussing whatever events were in it with Carlisle.

Esme soon had a plate piled high with food sitting in front of me and my mouth watered at the smells. There was a big helping of eggs mixed in with hash browns, ham, cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, and onions. Four slices of thick bacon sat on the edge of the plate next to three pieces of toast. I quickly dug in, ignoring whatever conversations were happening around me.

By the time I had finished, Esme had packed me a lunch-bless her undead soul-and exchanged it for my plate. A travel mug of coffee was handed to me and I asked myself yet again how I was so lucky to have adoptive parents who would do this for me.

Emmett and Rosalie took Emmett's jeep to school everyday as we all couldn't fit in Edward's volvo. Alice, Jasper, and I went with Edward everyday, though, and followed Emmett's speedy driving the whole way.

The dynamics I had with each of them varied, but there were some aspects that stayed the same. While I was older than most of them, a couple decades older than Carlisle actually, I hadn't stopped fully aging yet, and wouldn't until my body hit the maturity level of an 18-year old human. I aged really fast until I hit 14, and then the rate slowed exponentially. When I met them I had been about the physical age of 17 but had matured in the first few years of being a family. This meant that for the longest time since then, I had been stuck at 18 and physically younger than everyone but Edward and Alice. So despite now being the same physical age as Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper, everyone thought of me as the baby. The fact that I could be hurt easier than any of them didn't help. They all took it upon themselves to be the protective older siblings that I had lost hundreds of years before any of them were even born. It was rather confusing, if one stopped to think too hard about it.

Arriving at Forks High School was always interesting. Everybody would turn and stare at Edward and Emmett's expensive cars that looked out of place amongst the weathered trucks and beat up sedans. Then they would whisper as we got out of the car, mostly about how reclusive we were. It's not my fault my siblings never wanted to risk becoming friends with a human…I just had to suffer the consequences.

It was my fourth time through high school, and I'd already done two rounds of college, once of each before I met my family. Generally, the classes were a breeze due to it being my fifth time around. Very rarely was anything challenging.

I walked into English/Lit and set my coat on a hook before taking my seat at the back of the classroom. Due to Emmett and Edward's inescapable need to drive fast, I was generally one of the first people in class and got to watch all of the pairs of students filter in slowly.

I doodled aimlessly on a piece of notebook paper as the classroom filled. It was only when I noticed everybody was in their seats and Mr. Mason was still not talking that I looked up and saw the new girl.

She was pretty, prettier than a lot of the girls at the school, but in a subtle way and dressed in a basic outfit. She looked rather nervous standing up there as Mr. Mason said a few words to her and handed her a piece of paper before sending her to sit in the one open desk which happened to be right next to me. Her toe caught on her desk briefly as she sat down and glanced at the reading list.

"Hey," I whispered, leaning over so that she could hear me. "I'm Ava." I stuck out my hand for her to shake and I was rather relieved when she took it.

"Bella," she whispered back, smiling slightly with her eyes meeting mine for a moment before looking back down at her reading list in concentration. My smile wavered as I realized she didn't want to talk to me anymore and I sat back in my desk, staring out the window and drawing circled on my notebook as Mr. Mason droned on and on.

-Bella-

After the stunningly gorgeous girl across the aisle introduced herself to me-her name was Ava-I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic including authors such as Bronte, Shakespeare, Faulkner, and Chaucer. I had already read everything. That was comforting...and boring. I wondered briefly if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.

When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.

"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me, including Ava.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

I had to check it in my bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes, except Ava who was swiftly stuffing her notebooks into her bag.

"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added.

I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."

We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.

"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked. I noticed Ava was walking a bit ahead of us, alone.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered. I was wondering why people avoided walking close to Ava. She'd seemed nice enough in class.

"Sunny," I responded.

"You don't look very tan."

"My mother is part albino."

He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix. A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.

"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.

I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.

-Ava-

New girl was from Phoenix? I was surprised to hear that from her and Eric's conversation, considering she looked like she hadn't seen the sun in months. Then again, I couldn't tan for the life of me. She was only joking about being part-albino, but there was always that possibility. I also picked up on her full name being Isabella Swan. Chief Swan's daughter. I didn't really know much about Charlie except that he was supposedly a nice guy.

I suffered my way through Trig and blew off Study Hall before Bio. Honestly it was so easy for me that I didn't actually need to be there.

I decided to go to Spanish, mostly because my fluency was waning and I wanted to brush up a little bit. When I got there, Bella was sitting in the seat next to mine-which happened to be by the window in the back row.

"Hey, Bella," I greeted as I sat down and hooked my bag over the back of my chair.

"Hi...Ava? Right?"

"Yuppers, I'm glad you remembered. I'm sure a lot of people have been introducing themselves today." She gave a half-smile.

"Yeah, it's been a bit overwhelming," she replied.

"I'm sure," I agreed. "I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but you're the newest thing this school has seen in years. You'll be the center of attention for a while."

"Ugh, great," Bella answered, rolling her eyes. "Right where I love being."

I chuckled for a moment before looking over at her again. "If you need anything, though, I'll be here. Whether it's a pencil for class, a lunch buddy, or someone to help you when you get lost, just hit me up."

I half-expected her to laugh in my face, but instead she just smiled softly at me. "Thanks, I...I will."

"Hola," Mrs. Rulette greeted, standing at the front of the classroom after writing an exercise on the blackboard.

"Hola," the class replied, monotonous in tone. Bella had focused on the teacher before I could continue our conversation and I sighed, looking out the window again.

Class passed by quickly and before I knew it, I was turning to see if Bella wanted to walk to lunch with me. I would be perfectly happy ditching my siblings, too, if Bella needed someone to sit with. It would be nice to have a friend.

Before I could even ask, Bella was walking out the door with Jessica who was prattling on about teachers and classes. I bit the inside of my cheek and said goodbye to Mrs. Rulette before walking to lunch by myself. Again.

I walked in and Bella was sitting with a group of friends who seemed to have pulled her into their squad. Jessica, Mike, Eric, Angela. They were all nice people, but too intimidated by my family's looks and wealth to ever talk to me. She was looking over her shoulder occasionally, and I followed her gaze to my siblings' table. Of course, she was curious about the loners.

I walked over and plopped down next to Edward, pulling my lunch out of my bag as Alice turned from Jasper to look at me.

"You weren't in Trig," she commented. Alice and I shared half of our classes, while I had one with Jasper and Emmett. I didn't share any other classes with my siblings, which made it easier to skip.

I shrugged around the amazing salad that I was shoveling into my mouth. "It's boring." Rosalie scrunched up her nose when I talked with my mouth full.

"I know, I wasn't there either," Alice chuckled, using one hand to idly playing with the apple on her tray in an effort to appear more human. Emmett and Rosalie were talking quietly to each other, low enough that I couldn't hear. Jasper's eyes were a shade darker than when we left this morning and I noticed he was holding Alice's hand under the table.

Edward was looking behind me and I followed his gaze to see Bella looking at us. I shot her a warm smile and waved, but she quickly looked away. I frowned slightly.

"You know, you all look so menacing that nobody wants to be friends with me," I sighed, shoveling another bite of salad into my mouth.

"Maybe it's just you're too annoying?" Emmett theorized, smirking slightly. I shot him a fake smile and took another big bite of salad.

-Bella-

Jessica and I sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. The three boys were all contrasts of each other and the girls were complete opposites. One boy was big and muscled with dark curly hair, while another was taller, leaner, but still muscular with honey blond hair. The third was more boyish and was less bulky with untidy, bronze-colored hair. The first girl was blonde and statuesque while the other was short and pixie like.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes, despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes-purplish, bruise-like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.

But all this is not why I couldn't look away.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of angel.

It surprised me to see Ava glide over to their table and plop down, completely and 100% at ease with the beautiful group. While Ava was devastatingly gorgeous on her own, compared to them, she seemed almost plain. She had a different kind of beauty.

The moment she sat down and started talking, the others looked more normal, like she brought balance to their little group. It made me realize that I had no idea who Ava was outside of the two classes I'd had with her, or who the others were.

"Who are _they_?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.

As she looked up to see who I meant-though already knowing, probably, from my tone-suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.

He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, and I briefly glanced at Ava, who was sitting next to him but smiling over at me, before I dropped my eyes in a flush of embarrassment.

My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.

"That's Edward, Emmett, Alice, and Aviana Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath. I already knew who Ava was, but the others were a mystery to me.

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other five weren't looking at him, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them. Ava nodded her head once in awhile, the only one at the table who was actually eating.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here-small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.

"They are...very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all _together_ though-Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they _live_ together." Her voice held all the shock of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.

"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales _are_ brother and sister, twins-the blondes-and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice-for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything." I looked back over to them. "Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.

"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today-he had a slightly frustrated expression as Ava was talking to him and his siblings. I looked down again.

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.

After a few more minutes, the six of them left the table together. They were all noticeably graceful-even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again, but Ava did smile and wave as they walked by.

One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.

When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face-it was hostile, furious. I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.

I'd noticed that his eyes were black-coal black.

Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by _him_ , bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me. He couldn't be that bad, if he were related to Ava, could he? Then again, Jessica had said they were _adoptive_ siblings.

I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyways, always looking down.

I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far form me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgement on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.

It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't even know me. Unless...Ava might have told him about me... maybe she didn't like me very much…

-Ava-

I rolled my eyes as Mr. Jefferson droned on and on about the duties of Congress in the 1930s. I had lived through it… I probably knew more than Mr. Jefferson. I was only taking the stupid class because it was required to graduate. Jasper and Emmett were talking in hushed tones over my head. Emmett was sitting closest to the window while I was slouched in my seat with Jasper on the other side of me. I didn't listen to whatever they were saying, instead drawing little Congressmen stick figures in my notebook. Even though we'd just come from lunch, I was still hungry. Usually I had more time to eat, but Edward was having an existential crisis about not being able to hear Bella's thoughts and wanted to know more about her.

"You okay with that, Ava?" Jasper asked, looking down at me. I glanced up at him.

"To be honest, I wasn't listening to a word either of you were saying," I answered, narrowing my eyes when a stick figure's proportions turned out all wrong.

"We were talking about going hiking this weekend, you up for it?" he repeated, taking a glance at my paper. I shrugged, moving on to draw a plate of mashed potatoes.

Emmett reached into his bag and wordlessly handed me a baggie of homemade Chex Mix-my favorite snack that Esme always seemed to have a batch ready. I grinned happily and pulled open the baggie, popping a seasoned pretzel in my mouth. My siblings always knew when I was hungry both from my attitude as well as something else that came with having vampiric senses.

"I think I'll stay home this weekend," I told Jasper, chewing on an almond. "There's a few books I've been meaning to read." Jasper shrugged and looked back over to Emmett, starting a new conversation.

When the bell rang, I was faster out the door than even Jasper and Emmett. I could not stand Government class. I had lived through it all, I knew all the history of it and I knew all the inner workings of it. I hated having to listen to Jefferson drone on and on.

Jasper and Emmett split away from me to go to Chemistry II, which they shared with Rosalie. I had Gym next. Despite the smelly gym uniforms and the way all the high school boys tried to outshine everyone else, I liked the opportunity to do physical activity and let lose some of the energy that had built up by the end of the day. Jasper being in my 6th period was a good accidental move on the school's part, seeing as he could calm my jittery nerves from sitting still all day.

I walked into the locker room by myself and then out to the gym, also by myself. It was our second week of volleyball and I was more than looking forward to getting rid of some of this energy. I knew that despite this hour of activity I would still have to go kick some trees when I got home to get rid of the jitters.

Coach Clapp came out, a few minutes later than usual, followed by Bella. The new girl was holding a gym uniform but it didn't look like the coach was going to make her dress that day. Instead, she sat on the sidelines and watched us play volleyball, looking slightly nauseated at the prospect of having to join us the next day. Bella didn't seem like a gym-loving person to me…

I was waiting by Edward's car with Jasper and Alice. For some reason, Edward was being a complete dick and trying to get his Biology class switched simply because Bella's blood called to him. All he did was make her feel uncomfortable and like something was wrong with her.

"Sometimes you annoy me," I told him as we got in the car. He grunted in response and I didn't even have to say anything else as he read my thoughts.

"You don't understand," he replied as we got closer to the house. "You don't have thirst like we do."

"You're right, I don't...but I'm pretty sure all you did today was make her feel like crap," I retorted, yanking my bag out of the car and stalking towards the house.

"I think her energy levels are too much right now. I'm sure they're messing with her emotions," Alice whispered. I heard the three of them walking in behind me and I started feeling calm, soothing emotions wash over me, which only made me more frustrated.

"Cut it out, Jasper!" I yelled, slamming open the door to the back and running into the woods. My skin felt hot...and itchy. I hadn't released enough energy over the weekend. Gym class had been enough to hold my abilities at bay, but I could feel them pushing to be freed. I broke into a dead sprint when I hit the trees, needing to get far away from the house and any other civilization when I let everything out. As a fae, I could run faster than any human. I was still slower than vampires, but I could almost keep up with my siblings when they were running full sprint.

I collapsed on my hands and knees a few miles from home. I rarely built up so much energy that I had to do this, but I had been sloppy over the weekend, preferring to stay at home and read.

My breaths came in pants and I groaned as my abilities pressed against my mind. Certain fae had certain abilities, just like certain vampires could read minds or see the future. I was one of the more powerful fae that had been around in my youth, but it came with consequences now that I was separated from my own kind.

Sweat beaded against my forehead and my fingernails dug into the soil beneath me. With a whimper, I slowly pulled down the mental barrier keeping my abilities back, only letting a little bit of energy go at each moment. I had learned a couple years ago what would happen if I let it all go at once...and Forks did not need that kind of disaster.

I groaned as wave after wave left me, flattening bushes and sending animals scampering for safety. I felt thick, hot liquid start to drip down my face and I knew that I had reached the bloody nose portion of the release.

Next came the headache with letting so much energy and power filter through me in such a short amount of time. Then the nausea as it was almost all gone. Whatever I ate that day ended up in the bushes next to me as the last of the jittery energy left me. The moment I was at a good level, I shoved my mental barrier back up and collapsed on my back on the forest floor, tilting my head to the side to let the blood trickle down to the dirt. My muscles ached.

Everything was silent. All the small critters had run for safety and the birds had flown away. Even the wind seemed to have stopped for the power that had just been released.

I was exhausted now. Whenever I released I was exhausted. Sleep and healthy food were the only two things that would help me. Coffee didn't have any effect, sadly, and the last time I ate junk to try and get my energy up, I spent the night puking. But I would also spend the time in pain, no matter how much I slept or how much I ate. My muscles simply couldn't handle the release and I would have great, seizing spasms at random intervals through the night as my body and mind tried to recover.

I heard footsteps and then Carlisle and Esme were there, sympathetic concerned looks on their faces. This didn't happen often, but when it did, I always seemed to rely even heavier on my family.

Carlisle helped me sit up as Esme wiped my face of the blood that had smeared its way all over. I could tell Carlisle was listening in on my heartbeat and breathing from the way he was helping me sit.

Esme picked up my jacket that had gotten slung off towards a tree in my haze as Carlisle stood, taking me in his arms. I saw Esme pick up one of my boots, the other still on its foot. If I had the energy I would have laughed. My eyes were so heavy...maybe just a little sleep…

I woke up in my bed, clean and changed into comfier clothes, with Rosalie sitting there with a bowl of soup. She coaxed me into eating a few bites before my stomach was rolling and I pushed her hand away before slipping back into a deep sleep.

Throughout the night I had a few visitors as I dipped in and out of sleep. Esme or someone would wake me up every so often to eat something small before nausea would take over again. Carlisle continuously checked up on my vitals and sleeping, just to make sure it was normal like all the other times. Sometimes Jasper would be in to control my emotions to help me feel more relaxed when the pain was too much.

This continued well into morning. Carlisle was called into work, despite it being his day off and Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett all headed off to school but Edward stayed home, partly to help Esme take care of me and partly because of Bella Swan.

When I awoke for good, feeling only slightly sore and tired, Edward was sitting on the couch in my room, eyes scanning a book.

"I'm sorry," I started, causing him to look up at me in surprise, even though he must have known what I was thinking. "I didn't mean what I said yesterday, I just had a lot of pent-up energy." The corner of his mouth quirked up at my joke.

"It's fine," he replied, looking away before saying something that looked like it physically pained him to say. "You were right anyway. I was making her feel like crap, even if it wasn't my intention. I intend to apologize when I got back to school and maybe even talk to her."

I smiled weakly as he stood up to help me drink from a glass of water. "Good, she's really nice. And I think her and I could be friends. So don't go messing this up for me, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, putting the glass of water back on my nightstand. I was feeling tired again, even though I had just slept for the better part of a day. "Go to sleep. You need to get your energy up if you're going to be making friends."

"Oh, ha, ha, ha," I retorted, turning onto my side and pulling the blankets up to my chin. "Will you read to me?"

Edward raised an eyebrow like he didn't believe I was serious, but nodded nevertheless and started reading aloud from the book in his hands, _Wuthering Heights_.

"'Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living. You said I killed you-haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe-I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always-take any form-drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!'"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I thought this quote from WH was quite appropriate given Edward's lack of soul...

Thanks for reading, please fav, follow, and review!

-Lauren


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-Ava-

I stayed home while all my siblings-except Edward-went to school. He had decided to run North to Alaska and spend the week hunting.

When I was feeling better, he'd explained in depth to me why he acted the way he did with Bella. Apparently her blood smelled better than anything he'd ever smelled and it had taken all of his self-control not to drink it all when she sat down next to him in Biology.

Edward had decided that to be around her, he needed to feed as often as possible so as to not lose control whenever he was next to her. The others had attested to how good her blood smelled, so I was slightly more okay with how he had reacted. He couldn't read her mind, though, and that was still a mystery to everyone.

I had been spending the two days off either lying in my bed or sprawled on the couch, mostly under Esme's fussing. She had gone on a cooking frenzy to make me enough food to get my energy levels back up quicker. Currently I was eating a massive caesar salad with grilled steak strips on top. It was fantastic.

Esme was flitting around the house, cleaning the already immaculate spaces, doing laundry for me (the others didn't sweat and only needed to clean their clothes when they got them dirty from hunting or other activities), and redecorating a lot of the rooms.

I had been reading a book, but I had yawned and my hands were shaking slightly, causing Esme to "advise" me to put down the book and eat the ginormous salad she'd made. I'd flipped the TV on and was watching reruns of some show that had come out the previous month.

All of this was to prevent me dropping, which would put many of us out of commission if that happened. Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, and Esme, at least, would have to stay with me. Carlisle because he vaguely understood what I'd told him about the drop and was studying how to better handle it; Jasper because he could manipulate my emotional state which could aid with recovery; Emmett because, while I might not have all my energy, I was still fae and still strong and would need someone who could combat; and Esme simply because she was Esme. Of course, the last two times it had happened, everyone stayed home.

I set the empty salad bowl on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch's armrest, yawning. I was sleepy again. I wasn't too upset with not going to school, as I didn't understand the need nor the humor that my siblings had when going to school for the gazillionth time. I guess maybe it was just to keep up with the technology that I kept going, and because Esme told me to. Despite not wanting to be at school, I wondered how Bella was doing.

-Bella-

The next day at school was better than the first...but also worse. It was better because it wasn't raining yet, and I knew what to expect throughout the day. Mike seemed to really be putting effort into being my friend and walked me to my second class, Chess Club Eric glaring at him the whole way. People didn't stare as much today, which was nice. I even had people to sit with lunch-a big group including Mike, Eric, Jessica, and others I didn't know. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.

It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the house. Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when I didn't know the answer, and I had to play volleyball-the one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it. Mostly, it was worse because Edward and Ava Cullen weren't in school at all.

When I walked into English, Ava wasn't sitting in her seat and staring out the window like the day before. She didn't walk into class late, either, and I realized when the bell rang that she was either skipping or sick. She wasn't in Spanish, either. I was a bit disappointed, hoping to talk to her more today, maybe about being friends and maybe about her adoptive brother's glaring. But by the time lunch came, I realized she wasn't at school.

All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing Edward's glares. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator. Maybe that's why I was going to try to talk to Ava about him.

But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica-trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely-I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together, and he and Ava were not with them. I frowned slightly, but brushed it off.

Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chetter, I was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false.

He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense.

I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.

I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.

When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot; it was now crowded with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my back to make sure I had what I needed: A shopping list and grocery money, as Charlie couldn't cook to save his life.

I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before-I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both good looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.

No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.

They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds. The Cullens were a strange bunch.

-Ava-

I woke up on the couch in the same position I'd been in, except it was darkening outside and there was the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and main living room; I'd been watching TV in one of the rooms with less windows so as to reduce glare.

I stood and stretched, reveling in my back cracking and loosening up my muscles. I had no doubt that my family knew I was awake, and as I walked towards the kitchen I could smell amazing food. As the only person in the house who ate, all the food was tailored to my liking. No brussel sprouts or pineapple pizza.

I passed through the main living room on my way to the kitchen and waved to some of my siblings. Emmett and Rosalie were curled up on the couch. Rosalie was watching Emmett and Jasper play a video game-something they'd discovered twenty years prior and been obsessed with. It was hard to even see their fingers as they blurred over the controls.

Carlisle was sitting at the kitchen bartop, reading through a patient file, while Esme and Alice were flitting around the kitchen, throwing various spices and ingredients into different pots.

"Edward still gone?" I asked, sliding onto a barstool and picking up a piece of bread from the cutting board. Esme nodded and drizzled olive oil on to the rest of the bread. I bit the inside of my cheek. I hated when my siblings weren't home. It always felt like there was a hole.

"He'll be back this weekend, he said," Carlisle told me. I nodded and stuffed another piece of bread into my mouth. I could eat like nobody's business.

"You might want to slow down between bites," Alice chuckled.

"Nah, you'll warn me if I'm about to choke," I answered, reaching for another piece of bread, only to have the cutting board pulled away from underneath my fingertips.

"If you eat it all now, you won't get to try what I have planned," Esme warned, placing the cutting board on the other counter. I shrugged, whatever Esme made was always amazing. I probably did need to wait, anyway. Usually some of us would watch a movie while I ate, mostly to make me feel less weird about being the only one eating.

"What movie will we be watching tonight?" Esme asked me. I looked over at Alice, who's eyes were slightly unfocused.

"Well, you and Emmett will argue over two actions movies, but in the end we'll end up watching an old romance flick that Rosalie chooses," the psychic said.

I grimaced. Romance movies were unrealistic, at least for me. Rosalie and Emmett, while both having been put through severe trauma before finding each other, had still found their soulmate. Alice and Jasper found each other, too, and their love grows stronger every day. Carlisle and Esme had that love that made human teenagers want to barf when they saw their parents acting that way, but I thought it was sweet that my surrogate parents were so in love.

But I'd never been in love, not in a romantic sense. I loved my family, both my original and my new, more than anything else in the world. When it came down to it, I would sacrifice myself if it meant they would be alive and safe. If there was ever a threat against the Cullens, there was no doubt in my mind that I would let my energy consume me to destroy that threat, and me in the process.

I just hadn't met someone who I grew to love more as a family member. Maybe when I first joined the Cullens, they thought maybe Edward and I would develop something, but he'd taken on the brooding, protective older sibling role quickly, and I preferred to annoy him. Still, I hoped that one day I would meet someone. But being alive for 500 years and not having found anyone brought a new meaning to forever alone.

"Gross, maybe I'll just eat in here tonight," I mused. It wasn't true, though. Rosalie would guilt me into watching, or force me. Which is exactly what happened. I ended up sandwiched on the couch between Rosalie and Alice, watching an old black and white film that had a lot of swooning women.

I yawned when it was over, standing up and turning to my siblings. "I'm off to bed." There were murmured goodnight's, and I smiled as I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The door to Carlisle's study was cracked and I hesitated outside, trying to decide whether or not to discuss with him something that had been nagging at me the last few days.

"You can come in, Ava," Carlisle's voice rang out, laced with a chuckle. I pushed the door open and walked over to the chairs in front of his desk, sinking into one and pulling one of my knees up to rest my chin on. "What is it?"

"I think I'm going to go through my final changing soon," I told him, gnawing at my cheek. Carlisle set aside the paper he was looking at and focused on me, face staying calm and not betraying a hint of whether or not he was worried like I was.

"Why do you think that?" he inquired, setting his hands on his desk.

"My energy is getting harder to control," I started, thinking back on everything that had been happening in the past couple of months. "I've been having more and more energy releases in the past few months, at least once every 3 weeks. I used to only get them maybe once a decade. I'm more jittery and I feel like I'm getting stronger."

"I've noticed that, too, but I wasn't sure what all of this meant," Carlisle admitted, standing up to grab a thick folder from a side table-my folder.

"I remember my mom talking about it...the final changing...and I saw one once. A boy, when I was maybe 5. I can't really remember much, just watching him drop like a rock and then hearing screaming and sobbing every few hours from his hut," I said, looking down at the floor briefly. "My mom didn't really explain much, just that it's the final stage before reaching full Fae maturity. And it's painful..more painful than the premier changing."

Carlisle nodded, but I could see he looked a little worried and confused. "I'll try to find some stuff out tonight, maybe even reach out to some friends of mine. Are you sure none of your family survived?"

I hesitated. I hadn't seen them after I'd woken up alone in the forest...buried half a foot of ashes and leaves. It was possible they escaped, but they were most likely taken by hunters and 'interrogated' before being killed. My stomach rolled as I thought back on it.

"They would have found me, or I would have found them, by now," I whispered. Despite the fact that I knew they were most likely dead, there was still that tiny spark of hope that burned in my chest, causing me to spend spare time looking for any trace of my family.

"Why don't you get some sleep? You need it if you're going to recover faster," Carlisle told me, giving me a wane smile. I nodded and stood, hesitating before I walked over and gave him a hug. Touch was a wonderful healing tool and I felt my worries start to fade away.

Yet, as I walked to my room, I could only think about my family and if they were still alive...possibly unknowing that there could be others still alive.

 _Flames burned high in the sky as I sprinted through the forest, my hand grasped tightly in my younger brother's as I pulled him along. My twin ran next to me, carrying my youngest sibling. I had no idea where my parents were-we'd gotten separated when the hunters had shown up._

 _I stumbled and my twin was at my side in less than a half-second, hauling me back up and steading me while forcing us to keep moving. My mind was scrambled, filled with questions of how they had been able to find us so quickly. Our clan had been so careful this time...so cautious. There was no way they had found us this quick without help from the inside._

 _Kyla, my younger sibling, cried as Nik kept her pressed tight to his chest, pressing her face into his neck so that she wouldn't be as affected by the flames. Eli, my younger brother, was squeezing my hand tightly as he ran, silent tears tracking down his face through the soot and ashes of the fires._

 _We just had to get away and find someplace to hide, someplace where Nik and I could figure out how to mask our trail and keep us hidden from whatever methods the hunters had used to find us. We'd just barely started training with our abilities so that we'd be ready for our 13th birthdays._

 _I screamed as a broadsword swung at our faces, pulling my siblings back and to the ground. There was a deep, scratchy chuckle and three hooded hunters stepped out of the shadows of the trees. My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest and the one closest to us raised his sword and-_

I bolted upright, letting out a scream, and ended up on the other side of my bedroom in half a heartbeat, pressed against the wall. My face was wet, my chest was heaving, and my heart rate was beating faster than it should beat as a fae.

Nightmare. It was all a nightmare.

My bedroom door opened and cool arms wrapped around me, supporting me right as exhaustion hit me again. I pressed my face into dress-shirt clad shoulder of whoever was keeping me upright, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears as I drew in long, shuddering breaths to get my breathing and heart rate under control.

Calming emotions breezed through me, allowing the exhaustion to hit me even harder. Somehow I ended up in my bed, clutching Jasper as if he could take all the pain while Alice ran her fingers through my hair. And he did...he made it go away, replacing it with feelings of calm and joy.

"I miss them," I mumbled as I was halfway back asleep. I didn't hear a response before I was back asleep, this time without the nightmares.

I'd missed almost the entire week of school, but Alice and Rosalie had collected everything for me, and I'd finished everything by noon on Sunday and spent the rest of the day alone in the house while my family went out hunting for the weekend.

Edward came back late on Saturday night, eyes no longer pitch dark with thirst. I'd gotten to talk to him for maybe an hour before I couldn't stay away any longer and went off to bed. It was just us two and he'd helped me make steak and potatoes...one of the only meals I loved cooking on my own.

By Sunday afternoon, I was back to normal, no longer getting exhausted when I was awake for too long. Edward and I chilled the whole day until everyone returned. I listened to him play piano and then he watched as I let fire dance across my fingertips. By the time everyone returned, I was sprawled on the couch reading as Edward brooded in his room about confronting Bella the next day.

Soon enough Monday came around and we were all packed into cars and on the way to school. I was sprawled in the backseat of Emmett's jeep, choosing to ride separate from Edward so there was less of a chance of him being able to listen to my thoughts, which were drifting towards Bella. I wondered how she was doing with making friends. She probably had loads by now, and I was going to be mad if my energy surge and Edward's attitude ruined the chance of a friendship with someone who didn't judge me for being a Cullen.

It was slightly chilly as I stepped out of the jeep, causing me to zip my jacket up. Unlike my siblings, I felt the cold and heat; it just didn't affect me as much as it would a human. I swung my backpack over my shoulder, laden with snacks and books for fun rather than schoolwork, and headed to English. I was the first to arrive, as usual, and spent a moment turning in all my missing assignments from the week prior.

I fiddled with my notebook and when Bella came in and sat down, I turned to talk to her.

"Hey," I greeted. Bella looked surprised to see me. "How was your first week in Forks?" I really really wanted a friend outside of the coven.

The brunette smiled and moved in her seat to face me. "It was ok, but I don't really like the weather. Are you feeling better? I thought you were sick, but nobody else knew."

"Yea, I'm back to normal," I said. Of course nobody else would know, I thought bitterly. They don't care to even get to know me. "Edward and I both came down with something and I was laid up for a few days." Edward owed me a nice dinner for making Bella think he wasn't avoiding her.

"Oh," Bella seemed surprised, and I knew she thought Edward was just avoiding her. "I'm glad you're both feeling better."

Before either of us could say anything, Mr. Mason called all of our attention up to the board and announced a pop quiz on _Wuthering Heights_. Most of the class groaned, but I'd read that book so many times since it was released that I knew it like the back of my hand. Bella didn't look too nervous about it, either.

-Bella-

Monday morning came, bringing another week of school with it. People greeted me in the parking lot, and I didn't know their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. Mike and I got to English, and he took his accustomed seat by my side, but I was more focused on the Cullen sitting next to me.

Ava was back in her seat.

"Hey," she greeted, angling herself to face me. "How was your first week in Forks?" I thought back. There were no incidents over the weekend, and I spent most of the time relaxing and doing chores. I was planning a trip to Seattle or Olympia to try and find a good bookstore.

I talked to Ava for a little while, feeling Mike's eyes on the side of my face, and asked how she was doing after being sick all last week.

"Yea, I'm back to normal," she answered. "Edward and I both came down with something and I was laid up for a few days."

Ava probably didn't notice, but almost all of the tension left me with those words. When he hadn't shown up to school, I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed. Hearing that he was just sick made the weight lift off my shoulders.

We only got to talk a few more moments before a pop quiz was called on _Wuthering Heights_ , my favorite book. Mike seemed to be struggling, but I thought it was straightforward, very easy.

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.

When we walked out of class-Ava had disappeared before I could even ask if she wanted to walk with us-the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose,

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.

"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.

He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes-you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I have." I paused. "On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. That led to a snowball fight between Mike and Eric, and I quickly escaped so as to not become collateral damage.

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain-until it melted in your socks.

I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish, Ava had skipped class somehow. I knew that if I had skipped class, I would have gotten in trouble. Mush balls were flying everywhere and I kept a binder in my hands to use as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought it was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.

Mike caught up to us, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward the table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were six people at the table.

Jessica pulled on my arm.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"

I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong, _and_ Ava had assured me that Edward was sick and not avoiding me.

"What's wrong with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line."

I got my soda and followed them, feeling uneasy as I sat down at the table. I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.

They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair at them. Ava was also covered in melting snow, her jacket hanging off the back of her chair covered in wet spots while her hair was wetted down in some placed. They were enjoying the snow day, just like everyone else-only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.

But aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, I decided-flushed from the snow fight maybe-the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. Maybe he looked worse last week when he was sick. But there I was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.

At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.

I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way. Ava looked over at him and followed his gaze, grinning at me when she saw I was what he was looking at.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking. I was at war within myself. Edward was sick-Ava had told me so-but he had also been glaring at me last week.

"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy and I put my head down on my arm.

"The Cullens don't like anybody...well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," I hissed.

She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.

I didn't think it was quite fair to assume that the Cullens didn't like anybody. Ava seemed friendly enough and I thought that maybe her and I could become friends. Maybe they were just misunderstood...Jessica had told me that they'd been the new kids two years ago.

Mike interrupted then-he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and I knew where I was going to avoid at the end of the day.

-Ava-

I _loved_ snow. It was always so refreshing and beautiful when it snowed in the Olympic Peninsula. I rushed to find my siblings after first period and lobbed a snowball at Emmett's head to announce my arrival. Edward started laughing and Emmett turned to face me, an evil grin on his face and a gleam in his eye. I laughed and ran to hide behind Rosalie; the traitor let Emmett get me. He swung me over his shoulder, and I shrieked as he laughed, spinning us in a circle over and over until I was dizzy. Alice and Rosalie shook their heads at our public antics, but both of them were fighting smiles. Jasper and Edward were outright laughing at our actions.

Emmett set me down just in time for another snowball to hit him in the back. Edward was the culprit and my biggest brother bent down to scoop up a snowball and lob it back at him.

Emmett, Edward, and I skipped the rest of our morning classes to have a snowball fight and run around in the snow-covered forest behind the school-mostly at my urging. Who could sit in class on a day like this? By the time my would-be Spanish class was over, we were waiting outside of Jasper and Alice's class, all three of us ambushing him with snowballs when he walked out.

He retaliated and soon it was just the four of us lobbing snowballs at each other until Alice and Rosalie made us go inside for lunch. I really was hungry, especially after running around, and my stomach was growling. As I pulled out the lunch Esme had packed, Emmett started shaking his wet hair at Rosalie and Alice, who leaned away but laughed. This was fun, I concluded. I was excited to get home and just be able to run around in the forest like a small child.

We settled down some, but our moods were still jovial. As I started tucking into the food laid in front of me, I noticed Edward looking at something over my shoulder. I turned and followed his gaze, grinning at Bella when I saw that's who Edward was looking at. She dropped her gaze and went back to her soda.

Only a soda? How can she eat so little? I'm starving, I thought.

"You're always starving," Edward answered my thoughts.

I opened my mouth to reply but shrugged. "I can't argue with that point."

Edward didn't rush off after lunch like he usually did, instead walking with me, Emmett, and Jasper to our next class, which was on the way to his. I had a feeling he was just trying to prolong until he had to sit next to Bella for a whole class period.

Jasper and Emmett sat down while I turned to face Edward.

"She's not a bad person," I told him quietly. "She won't be mad at you."

"I know," Edward answered simply before walking away. I plopped ungracefully into my seat between my two brothers and slouched down. US Government was boring, especially when I'd been alive when it was created.

-Bella-

When I got to class, I kept my eye away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook. I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled-even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. Maybe his attitude really was because he was sick...still, I doubted. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional to say.

"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive," he paused.

I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.

"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie-I mean my dad-must call me Isabella behind my back-that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.

"Oh, my sister called you Bella, so I assumed," he answered.

"Ava?"

"Yes," Edward nodded. "She really likes you."

"She's pretty cool," I agreed, fidgeting my feet under the desk. "I don't understand why nobody understands that."

He looked slightly pained. "My sister was unfortunate enough to be stereotyped like the rest of us when we moved. We're not very...social and nobody noticed that she was different. That she was social and wanted to make friends. Everyone assumed she was stuck-up and unwanting of friends."

"That's terrible," I murmured. "She's really nice." He nodded in agreement.

"She wants to be your friend," Edward told me.

I looked at him, surprised. "Really? I thought she was just being nice to the new kid…"

He shook his head. "She is nice, but she hasn't had a friend outside of our family in many years." I sympathized with her. Just because she was new, people automatically tried to fit her into a box on first glance.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab that we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order and we would have to separate and label them accordingly. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.

We had it finished before anyone else was close, even with checking each other's observations. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.

Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him...unsuccessfully. I glanced up and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly, I identified that subtle difference in his face.

"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.

He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."

"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

He shrugged and looked away. When I looked down, his hands were clenched into hard fists again.

Mr. Banner came over and asked some questions, which got our awkward silence back to normal. We ended up talking about the snow and weather before moving on to how I liked Forks and why I moved in the first place.

When the bell rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.

-Ava-

Bella and Mike walked into PE together and ended up on the same team, Mike always covering her position as well as his. We went up against them once and I exchanged smiles with Bella every so often. I ended up doing the same as Mike with my team. I was with three girls and one was a freshman who flinched whenever the ball came at her.

I was slightly disappointed that it was no longer snowing when I walked out of gym. The snow already on the ground was melting and becoming glorified slush. Alice threw her arm around me when I reached our cars and whispered some gossip in my ear. Edward was standing against his Volvo watching Bella get in her truck.

The other girl looked away from him and threw her truck in reverse, almost hitting a Toyota Corolla that had seen better days in her haste. She stomped on the brake just in time and then cautiously pulled out again. Edward started laughing and, as she rolled past us, I shoved him in the arm. He was still laughing as he swung his arm around my neck and ruffled my hair.

I mumbled as he released me, trying to smooth down my hair as I got into Emmett's jeep. I couldn't be mad-though. Edward seemed to be in a better mood than last week, and I hoped he was going back to normal.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Thanks for reading! I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter...I'm excited for the next one. We're going to see Ava and Bella's friendship really start to develop (I'm playing with some interesting ideas right now). If you liked this chapter, don't forget to favorite, follow, and REVIEW!

xoxo

Lauren


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

-Ava-

I woke up the next morning-on my own-to see the trees outside my window were blanketed in snow and icicles, the rain from yesterday having frozen across the forest. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, smiling like a kid on Christmas. Did I mention I loved snow?

I dressed in the clothes Alice had laid across my desk chair, happy that they were warm yet unrestricting. I was planning many snowball ambushes on some of my siblings today, and I wanted a full range of motion in case I had to run away.

"Gooooood morning," I greeted as I skipped into the kitchen. Alice was talking to Esme and shot me an amused look as I came in. I was in a good mood due to the snow, and Alice no doubt saw my future ambushing plans.

I chatted with Esme and Alice while shoveling food into my mouth before Edward came in to leave for school. I threw on a light coat, as I got cold but it took quite extreme temperatures for me to get cold enough to need a heavy coat. I swung my bag over my shoulder and grabbed a bag of Chex Mix from the pantry on my way out.

While I waited for my siblings, I stood and stared at the woods that surrounded our house. As a fae, I instinctively loved nature, and there was nothing prettier to me than the snow covered trees and white-topped mountains in the distance.

Edward seemed to have no problem driving in the newly fallen snow, most likely because he wasn't scared of dying if he got in a car crash. Instead, he drifted around corners and skidded smoothly across patches of ice, grinning all the way.

I was laughing as I stepped out of the car at school, eager to breath in the crisp winter air. Bella had just gotten out of her truck as well, and I moved to wave at her but she was facing the other way to look at something on her back tire.

My gaze and all my siblings except Edward's gazes jerked to the left as we heard a screeching noise that was becoming louder every second. There was a van skidding across the parking lot.

I whipped my gaze right and saw Bella standing there, shocked, as it flew towards her. Edward moved quicker than even I could process and I heard Bella's head crack against the pavement. The van shuddered to a near halt and then tilted as it settled loudly, a foot away from where Bella has been.

I raced over, unsurprised to find Edward had been the one to stop the van. People around us were screaming and shouting, but I tuned them all out as I raced to the other side of the van. Bella was lying half on the ground and half against Edward, protected from the van.

"Bella? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she answered. She tried to sit up and realized Edward was holding her against him tightly.

"Be careful," he warned. "I think you hit your head pretty hard." I walked the last few feet and knelt by Bella.

"Ow," she said, surprised.

"That's what I thought," Edward answered, sounding amused.

"Bella, do you mind if I look at your head?" I asked, alerting her to the fact that I was now here with them. "I've gotten hit loads of times and can tell if it's bad or not."

She nodded slightly, grimacing, and turned back to Edward.

"How in the…" she trailed off, obviously disoriented. I prodded the back of her head with my fingers, discreetly taking away pain and any severe injury. It would look like a small bump when the paramedics arrived. "How did you get over here so fast?"

I looked up at Edward, but he was just staring at Bella.

"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again.

She turned to sit up and I drew my hands away, helping her as Edward released her and slid farther away. I resumed my probing after Bella was in a sitting position, staring at Edward. He had plastered a concerned, innocent expression on his face.

And then people finally showed up, crowding around and yelling at each other. I pulled my hands away from her head and instead acted like I was helping her sit up.

"Don't move," someone instructed. I rolled my eyes.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted. I remembered then that someone else had been injured and I moved to stand and help but was halted by Edward's sharp glance. It was too risky now that everyone was watching.

Bella tried to stand but Edward pushed her back down.

"Just stay put for now."

"But it's cold," she complained. My brother chuckled, surprising both of us, but there was an edge to it.

"You were over there," Bella accused, causing Edward to fall silent. "You were by your car."

His expression turned hard and I bit the inside of my cheek. "No, I wasn't."

"I saw you." All around us was chaos. Adults had shown up now and were telling people to move. "Ava, you saw him. He was standing right by you." Bella had twisted to look at me.

I hesitated, briefly looking at Edward. "No, he'd started walking over towards you the moment he got out of the car." Lie.

"No," she insisted.

"Please, Bella." His voice was low.

"Why?" she demanded. I grimaced.

"Trust me," he pleaded, voice softer now. Sirens that had sounded in the distance were getting closer now.

"Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"

"Fine," Edward snapped, abruptly exasperated. I sighed quietly.

"Fine," Bella repeated, tone equally as angry.

I moved out of the immediate way as teachers and EMTs worked to move the van enough to bring stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, but told the paramedics that Bella had hit her head and most likely had a concussion when she tried to refuse hers. She was blushing deeply when they put the neck brace on her. When they'd turned to me, I had simply said I arrived after the incident.

Bella looked humiliated as she was wheeled past what looked like the entire school, who were all watching soberly. She was loaded in the back of the ambulance, and I hesitated. I wanted to go, but Emmett was shaking his head. In the end, it was Edward's hand on my elbow to push me towards the ambulance that made my decision.

Edward rode in front and I sat in the back, quietly, as the paramedic asked Bella different questions. Right before we pulled away, Chief Swan arrived, yelling Bella's name in panic when he recognized her. I ducked my head so as not to intrude on the family moment and looked eyes with Rosalie, who looked furious.

Our entire family looked on from a distance, expressions ranging from disapproval-Jasper-to fury-Rosalie, but anybody could tell they weren't worried for Edward's safety. Why should they be?

I hopped out of the ambulance as they started unloading Bella, moving to Edward's side as he glided through the hospital doors. They put Bella in an emergency room and I waited in the hallway as my brother went to find Carlisle. Another person-Tyler, the one driving the van-was wheeled in shortly after. He looked a lot worse for wear than Bella did, and I felt bad that I hadn't been able to help. It was a natural instinct for me to want to help hurt people.

Finally, after waiting for over an hour, I got bored and slumped down in chair and reached for my bag...only to realize it was waiting on the floor of the Volvo for me to take to class.

I pouted...it had my food in it. I sighed and stood up, walking over to the vending machines. They had Chex mix, but only the small, single serving bags that weren't as good as Esme's homemade. I pulled out my coins anyway and bought 3 bags, moving back to my seat in the hallway. Theoretically, I could go find Carlisle and be less bored, but I wanted to stay near Bella for some reason.

Sometime within an hour after that, Carlisle and Edward came walking down the hall. I stood up, brushing crumbs off my pants, and moved over to them. Edward only shot me a small smile and continued into the ER while Carlisle stopped to talk to me.

"You know, when Edward said she hit her head pretty hard, I knew it must have been serious for him to think something was "pretty hard". Yet, she's showing no signs of even a concussion...do you have any idea why that might be?" His eyes twinkled with mischief and I gave him a sheepish smile.

"So I might have healed her a little bit…" I trailed off. Carlisle chuckled.

"We'll talk more about it at home, but nobody saw you, right?"

I shook my head. "I doubt Bella even noticed. I asked if I could check her head since I'd been in similar situations before. She let me."

My father figure nodded and tilted his head toward the ER. I lead the way and walked in, seeing Edward was standing next to Bella, catching him in the last half of a sentence.

"...But don't worry, I came to spring you."

Bella's eyes looked over at us, stopping at me but flicking to Carlisle when he appeared. She had the surprised, somewhat awestruck look that everyone had upon first seeing Carlisle. She glanced between Edward and Carlisle and I knew she was wondering if this was the famous Dr. Cullen. Spoiler: it was.

"So, Miss Swan," Carlisle said, moving to stand next to her bed, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said, again.

Carlisle walked over to the lightboard on the wall over her head and flipped it on as I walked closer to stand next to Edward.

"Your X-rays look good," he said, briefly glancing at me. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

Bella shot a scowl at Edward. "It's fine."

Carlisle's fingers probed the back of her head and we all took notice when she winced.

"Tender?" he asked.

"Not really," Bella responded. Edward chuckled next to me and Bella turned to him, eyes narrowing.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room-you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all.," Carlisle instructed. I had mostly healed her head, but there were two factors into stopping when I did. One, everyone had shown up and I couldn't keep it up with people watching. Two, there needed to be at least some injury after the event or else people would get suspicious.

Bella looked over at Edward and I. "Do _they_ get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly. I elbowed him in the ribs, but he barely budged.

"Actually," Carlisle corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room." I grimaced, sympathetic towards Bella. It was obvious from her reaction and they talks I'd had with her in classes that she did not like being in the center of attention.

"Oh no," she moaned, covering her face with her hands.

Carlisle raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"

"No, no!" she insisted, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed and hopping down quickly-quicker than I would expect for someone who'd been lying in a bed for three hours. She staggered slightly and Carlisle caught her, concern etched on his face.

"I'm fine," Bella assured him, again.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied her.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," she insisted and I rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking. Bullshark.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Carlisle said, smiling at Bella's chart as he signed it, casting a quick glance at me and Edward.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," she amended with a hard glance at Edward. I was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that look.

"Oh, well, yes," Carlisle agreed, shuffling the papers in front of him in order to look preoccupied. He looked at Tyler and walked over, while I watched Bella's reaction. Her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly and I knew she suspected that Carlisle knew something.

"I'm afraid that _you'll_ have to stay with us just a little longer," he said to Tyler, checking his cuts.

Before I could even move to go over there, Edward placed a hand on my arm to keep me from moving, knowing what I was planning on doing. I looked at him and he imperceptibly shook his head and I stopped, biting the inside of my cheek.

As soon as Carlisle's back was turned, Bella was walking to our side.

"Can I talk to you two for a minute?" she hissed under her breath. My heart deflated slightly as I realized she was mad at me, too, while Edward took a step back, jaw clenching.

"Your father is waiting for you," he told her through his teeth. She glanced over at Carlisle and Tyler and I looked anywhere but her.

"I'd like to speak with you guys alone, if you don't mind," she pressed.

Edward glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. Bella had to walk fast-almost run-to keep up with him and I trailed behind slowly. As soon as we reached the corner into a short hallway, Edward spun to face Bella and I pulled up short, hanging back a couple feet.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold and my heart sank even more. He was driving her away again...both from himself and from me. From a chance at a friendship.

"You owe me an explanation," Bella reminded him.

"I saved your life-I don't owe you anything," he retorted harshly. I glared at him, letting my thoughts on how he was acting fill my head for him to read. There were many curse words.

Bella flinched back and swallowed. "You promised."

"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." Even I was hurt by his tone.

I could see the change in temper that his statement provoked and Bella glared at him, defiant. "There's nothing wrong with my head."

Edward glared back at her. "What do you want from me, Bella? From us?" Great...now he had to remind her that I was here. I was just in the process of starting to inch backwards.

"I want to know the truth," she said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you." Damn, she knew we were lying? I thought I'd hit it pretty well, even if Edward fumbled the ball.

"What do you _think_ happened?" Edward snapped. I glared at him.

"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me-Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both-and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it-and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all-and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" Tears started forming in Bella's eyes but she was forcing them back and I looked at the floor.

Edward was staring at her incredulously. His face was tense, defensive.

"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned her sanity and I ground my teeth.

Bella merely nodded once, jaw tight.

"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now. I wanted to slap him...she wasn't going to tell anybody, I wanted to yell. She just wanted the truth.

"I'm not going to tell anybody," she said, each word slow, and carefully kept a reign on her anger.

Surprise flitted across Edward's face. "Then why does it matter?"

You dumbass, I thought. It matters because she almost died and saw something that shouldn't have been able to happen. She saw something impossible. And you're refusing to tell her that it actually happened.

"It matters to me," she insisted. "I don't like to lie-so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it." She finally looked over at me, expression guarded. My heart hurt slightly.

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?" I clenched my jaw as she turned back to face him.

"Thank you," she waited, fuming and expectant still.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"No."

"In that case...I hope you enjoy disappointment."

The two scowled at each other in silence. "Why did you even bother?" she finally asked, frigid.

He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.

"I don't know," he whispered. And then he turned his back on Bella and walked away. I swear, I was going to set all of his CDs on fire when we got home.

Bella whirled on me.

"You know the truth, don't you?" she demanded. I hesitated, but that gave away enough. "Tell me what really happened. Please." Her tone was pleading and I almost spoke when I saw Edward turn around from the end of the hallway and narrow his eyes at me, shaking his head.

"I...I'm sorry," I whispered. Bella clenched her jaw and spun, walking off towards the waiting room. I shook my head and bit my lip, moving down the hallway to the exit.

Rosalie's car was waiting in the parking lot and Edward was already sitting in the passenger seat, staring ahead as our sister ranted. I slid in the backseat and stared out the window, any jovial feelings gone. My siblings were arguing in low tones, but I ignored them. I could tell that the night was not going to be a fun one.

We got back to the house and Rosalie was still ranting at Edward about how he was endangering the family and threatening our secrecy.

"Should I have let her get crushed, then?" Edward demanded as he got out of the car, roughly slamming the door shut. "Should I have let her blood spill across the parking lot. You think you have control of your thirst, but if Bella smells this good right now, how good do you think her blood smells when it's pouring out of her?"

I grimaced and stepped out of the car, moving towards the house.

"And you!" Rosalie turned on me, pointing a finger accusingly at me. "What the hell was that? You may not be a vampire, but you still have a pretty big secret to protect."

I ground my teeth and turned to face my adoptive sister. "Look, I'm not going to apologize for what I did. I wanted to do it, and I don't regret it. Bella's a nice person and if she needed help, and I could provide that, I was going to. Don't get pissy at me for my natural instincts that want to _help_ people."

"And when people come asking how Bella was completely fine when she should have had a severe concussion? What about when she tells everyone what Edward and you did? What happens then?" Rosalie yelled.

"She won't tell anyone," I insisted, trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince Rosalie.

"You don't know that!" she threw back.

"Yes, I do. She's a good person. She won't tell anyone," I pushed, trying to calm my emotions. Edward was hanging back, not planning on interrupting unless we went at each other. Our other siblings were staying inside to let us argue, no doubt also angry at what Edward and I had done.

"She's human! She'll tell someone eventually," Rosalie retorted.

"She won't," I answered, growing quieter. "And if she does and we do have to leave, you can say 'I told you so' as many times as you want. Hell, you can even kick my ass into the next century if it would make you feel better."

I spun around and stormed inside before Rosalie could respond. I heard her and Edward start to argue again and I rolled my eyes. None of my siblings nor Esme were in the way. A quick sweep with my senses showed me that Esme actually wasn't at the house and neither were Jasper or Alice. Emmett was somewhere downstairs, but I didn't try to find him as I got to my room and slammed the door.

It took a while to calm down, and I was grateful that nobody bothered me. When I finally was back to a calm persona, I went to pull out my homework only to realize that I hadn't gone back to school today. Wow, what a great attendance streak, I thought.

I pulled a book of my shelf- _Outlander_ by Diana Gabaldon, one of my favorites-and I quickly immersed myself in the old Scottish highlands. I got maybe two chapters read before there was a knock at my door.

"Come in," I announced, half-paying attention. Edward slipped in and took a seat on my bed next to me. I closed my book and shifted to look at him.

"I know that everyone else may be mad, but I wanted to thank you for what you did," he started. "Bella...there's something about her. I'm drawn to her in a way I've never been before."

"She is pretty different," I agreed.

Edward let out a quick laugh. "That's for sure." It was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, for coming over and healing her, and for being supportive of my choice instead of angry."

I shrugged. "You're welcome...I want to be Bella's friend, too. I just hope she'll forgive me for not spilling our secrets."

"I'm sure she will. She seems like an understanding person," he answered. I nodded and my door opened.

Carlisle stuck his head in, jerking it towards the door. "Let's talk."

I rolled off the bed and followed him out the door, hearing Edward get up a moment later and leave to go back to his room. I settled down in one of the chairs in front of Carlisle's desk, tucking my feet underneath me.

"I'm not mad," he told me, smiling. "I heard Rosalie and you got into a yelling match over Bella?"

"Yes, Rosalie doesn't...approve of what Edward and I did," I answered, choosing my words carefully.

"But you don't regret it." It wasn't a question, but I shook my head anyway. Carlisle smiled.

"I think we should talk more about your abilities," he said. "When you first told me about your healing abilities, you told me you rarely do it because you could potentially form a bond with the healee, but you didn't go further into detail. Can you elaborate now?"

I nodded and took a breath. "When a fae heals someone who is non-fae, they could start to develop a bond with them. It's a weird thing-bonding. It's not forming an emotional connection or spurring any physical desire to be with someone. It's just simply...there." Carlisle nodded.

"I've never formed a bond with someone I've healed before, and I don't know why that is. I've healed plenty of humans, some that I'd been friends with, but nothing formed. I'm not 100% sure how it works-who bonds and who doesn't-and that's part of the reason why I never talked about it until now."

"But do you think you're forming a bond?" Carlisle was transcribing everything I said and putting it in his file. Eventually he wanted to be able to have a complete file on how faes worked and their different abilities.

"Yes," I answered.

"How do you know? If there's no emotional connection or physical draw, how can you tell a bond is formed?"

I chewed on my lip as I tried to figure out a way to explain what i was feeling. "Somehow..I just know. There's a draw, but not to become romantic or even friendly. It's physical, but in a neutral way. It's more of an urge to make sure that she's safe and uninjured. Like now that I've healed her, I feel responsible for her safety. And when you were checking her head, I could feel it."

"You could feel her pain?" Carlisle seemed surprised.

"No," I shook my head. "I couldn't feel her pain because I don't think I was healing her long enough to form that deep of a bond. But I had an uncomfortable prickly sensation when you were touching her head and she winced." The sensation wasn't painful, but it wasn't comfortable either. It was like an itch I couldn't seem to scratch.

Carlisle nodded as if he understood, but even I didn't quite understand what I'd just explained. I was young when my mother explained bonding to me, and I didn't remember the complete conversation as I was preoccupied with getting it over with so that I could go play with my twin.

"If I'm bonded to her...then she might find out about us," I realized, breath hitching.

Carlisle smiled slightly. "Edward seems to be infatuated with her; I doubt it will be long before she discovers our secret. In fact, I think Alice has seen it already."

I let out a lose breath. I was glad that she was going to find out, but I was worried how Rosalie would react. I didn't want her to get pissy at me or Edward again, just because she was angry at having to be a vampire.

I just wanted a friend. A normal, flesh and blood friend who could actually sleep if we had sleepovers. Just a friend...

-.-.-.-.-

Wow, I'm pretty amazing. Two chapters in two days? I'm feeling very motivated and I'm in a huge Twilight fangirl phase right now (again). If you liked this installment, don't forget to favorite, follow, and REVIEW!

Reviews are how I get ideas for different things that happen in a story. They also help me improve my writing and the quality of these stories, as well as find discrepancies and plot holes. So pretty please review (it helps motivate me to write faster). Review review review!

xoxo, Lauren


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

-Bella-

In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin. I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned. Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach.

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.

To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of that week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it-especially since nothing had actually happened to me-but he remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our now crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly to him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.

No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero-how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life. With chagrin, I realized the probable cause-no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was. No one else watched him the way I did. How pitiful.

Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating (except for Ava), talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore. The exception was Ava.

The first few days after the accident, whenever she tried to talk to me, I would only ask her questions about the accident and Edward. She remained firm in what she'd said-that he'd been walking toward me before the accident and was there just in the nick of time. I was disappointed in myself to say that I hadn't been very nice to her that first week, especially after she was so worried about me after the accident.

But the following week I realized that maybe she believed what she was saying, or Edward had told her to keep her story that way. Either way, I needed a friend who hadn't became my friend because I was new, but rather because she wanted to be. We'd grown close through the past month-she'd even been over to my house once or twice. I'd asked her if she wanted to eat lunch at our table, but she had declined, saying that she wanted to sit with her siblings.

It was one day after school, when she'd rode in my truck with me-ignoring the glares that Rosalie sent her-that I asked the question I'd been wanting to ask. "Does your family not like me or something?"

Ava had rolled her eyes and frowned. "My family doesn't like you, but they don't dislike you either. There's not really any positive or negative feelings there. Most of them are neutral."

"Most?"

"Well," Ava trailed off. "Rosalie doesn't really like anybody outside of our family. Edward is different. I'm not sure what he feels, to be honest."

Edward...When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up-skin stretched even whiter over the bones-did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.

He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van-there was no other conclusion I could come to.

I wanted very much to talk to him, or at least ask Ava about him (she wouldn't budge), and the day after the accident I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my part of the bargain flawlessly. But he had in face saved my life, no matter how he'd done it. And, overnight, the heat of my anger faded away into awed gratitude.

He was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead. I sat down, expecting him to turn towards me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.

"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him I was going to behave myself.

He turned his head a fraction of an inch toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.

And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me, every day. I watched him from a distance sometimes, unable to stop myself, in the cafeteria or parking lot. Sometimes I watched from the window as he pulled up outside my house to give Ava a ride home when she didn't feel like driving her own car. I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day. But in class, I gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued.

Mike was miserable about the snow having melted and not having been able to have his epic snowball battle, but he was pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. Jessica had asked if I was okay with her inviting Mike to the girls' choice dance. I'd assured her I didn't mind and I only viewed Mike as a friend, nothing more.

It was then I'd had to reveal that I wasn't planning on going to the dance. She'd tried to convince me, but I had firmly kept to my lie that I was going to be out of town. But the next day, she was silent and I slowly wondered if Mike had turned her down for the dance. I figured it was true when she sat as far away from Mike as possible and he kept unusually quiet.

He was still quiet as he walked me to class, and as I sat next to Edward-who was still ignoring me-he stood by the desk and looked down at his feet.

"So," he said, shuffling his sneakers. "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."

"That's great." I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."

"Well…" he floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response. "I told her I had to think about it."

"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval color my tone, though I was relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no.

His face was bright red as he looked down again. Pity shook my resolve.

"I was wondering if...well, if you might be planning to ask me."

I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.

"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," I said.

"Did you already ask someone?" Did Edward notice how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction?

"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."

"Why not?" Mike demanded.

I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, so I quickly made new plans.

"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. I needed to get out of town anyway-it was suddenly the perfect time to go. Maybe Ava wouldn't mind going with me...

"Can't you go some other weekend?"

"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer-it's rude."

"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. I sighed and opened my eyes when Mr. Banner began talking.

And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes.

I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away. My hands started to shake.

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.

"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr. Banner.

I looked down at my book as soon as his eyes released me, trying to find my place. Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me-just because he'd happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.

I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let him know that I was aware of him. When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.

"Bella?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just a few short weeks.

I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked into his too-perfect face. My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.

"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.

His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. It was never this hard to talk to Ava. I waited.

"Then what do you want Edward? Want me to stop being friends with Ava like you stopped talking to me?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."

I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.

"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.

"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me. It's fine being friends with my sister, but it wouldn't be good if we were friends."

My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before. _Trust me_.

"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."

"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"

"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."

He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.

When he finally spoke, he almost sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?"

"I _know_ you do," I snapped.

"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.

I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the doorjamb and dropped my books. I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. Then I signed and bent to pick them up. He was there; he'd already stacked them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.

"Thank you," I said icily.

His eyes narrowed.

"You're welcome," he retorted.

I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again, and stalked off to Gym without looking back.

Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team (which luckily had Ava on it) never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me-specifically Ava. She was always good natured about it and laughed at my clumsiness. Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edward. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.

It was a relief, as always, to leave. Ava and I hadn't made plans for that afternoon, and I almost ran to the truck when class was over; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I'd had to replace the taillights, and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler's parents had to sell their van for parts.

I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.

"Hey, Eric," I called.

"Hi, Bella."

"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.

"Uh, I was just wondering...if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.

"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.

"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.

I recovered my composure enough to tell him I was going to be gone and for him to slouch off. Then I heard a low chuckle and turned to see Edward walking past the front of my truck.

I angrily got in the truck and reversed out into the aisle, but Edward was there to slide smoothly in front of me and cut me off while he waited for his family-the five of them walking this way.

Of course it was then that Tyler walked over to my truck and asked me to the spring dance. I was annoyed when I gave him the same answer as everyone else-that I was going to be in Seattle that weekend. It wasn't really his fault, but Mike and Eric had used up my quota of patience for the day.

Edward was speeding away, laughing, before I could press on the gas pedal to just tap his car. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.

Charlie and I had an awkward conversation at dinner about me not going to the dance. In the end, he was okay with me going to Seattle on my own. But I was still thinking about asking Ava if she wanted to join me.

Ava was a book, music, and anything-geeky lover. She would dress cute and casual for school one day and the next be in a vintage Marvel t-shirt and ripped jeans. I figured she probably wasn't going to the dance, and she would probably much prefer book shopping in the city.

The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. Of course, when I bent down to get it, Edward was there.

We exchanged some words before he asked.

"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."

That was unexpected.

"What?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"

"With who?" I asked, mystified.

"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.

I was still stunned. "Why?"

He proceeded to talk about how he was going to be heading there anyway, and then insulted my truck. Of course I naturally got defensive, even if he was correct.

"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name, and I hated it. "I can't keep up with you, I thought you said you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Oh, thanks, now that that's all cleared up. Now I understand why Ava never explained, you're just too confusing." Heavy sarcasm.

"It would be more...prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."

His eyes were gloriously intense. "Will you go with me to Seattle?"

I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded, all thoughts of asking Ava to go with me flying away.

He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.

"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."

-Ava-

I ran through the forest, headphones in my ears. I needed to get rid of some energy, and a combination of physical exercise and slowly filtering my energy into the forest around me was the easiest way to do so, as I'd discovered in the past month.

Much to Rosalie's intense dislike, Bella and I became friends over the weeks following the car accident. Her and Edward hadn't talked much, if at all, though. But I was just glad to have a friend outside of my family.

I felt...protective over Bella. I felt myself subconsciously reach out through our bond to make sure she was okay, whether it be at school or at her house. It was the bond making me feel that way, but to be honest, Bella was so clumsy that I hardly needed the bond to tell me when she was injured. I'd given her little bits of healing power every so often and it made the bond grow stronger. It was very confusing to me, and I'd spent some nights in Carlisle's study for hours pouring over texts and mythology that could somehow explain my simple fae nature.

Rosalie was, of course, angry that I'd healed her and now had a physical bond with Bella. Jasper and Emmett weren't angry...but they were wary of the situation. Alice, Esme, and Carlisle were completely fine with it; Carlisle used it as a chance to grow his knowledge on my kind-both for personal gain and to help me-while Alice seemed to know what was going to happen and was fine with it. Edward was grateful, yet he was ignoring Bella and making her feel even worse.

I'd had a few choice words with him about how everyone knew he wanted to be friends with her, but all he was doing at the moment was making both her and himself feel worse. It was better just to get over it and become friends with her.

I paused in my running as I reached the top of a mountain that overlooked a broad expanse of forest and, in the distance, the La Push Reservation and the Pacific Ocean. The sight was breathtaking-the water of the Pacific was glittering in the sunlight that filtered through the clouds; a few birds flew around the tops of trees a few miles away. It was peaceful and serene.

I climbed up a tree to get an even better view and settled myself in a crook between two branches, relaxing and letting energy flow from me and into the forest around me. My energy wasn't a positive or negative force, but during releases I had very little control over what it did when it left my body-I could only really control how much left at a time-and it would mostly flatten its surroundings. But when I could let it out whenever I wanted, trees grew a little taller, grass grew a little greener, and flowers bloomed a little brighter.

And as I let out energy bit by bit, I wondered about what would happen with Bella…and with me. I knew I was going to hit my final change within the next year, and I worried that I would be at school or in town when it happened. I was anxious to go through it without an adult fae to guide me, but I knew that Carlisle and the rest of my adoptive family would be there when it happened. But I was just scared...scared of becoming stronger without knowing how to deal with it...scared of changing without my twin there...scared of the pain.

-.-.-.-.-.

Thanks for reading! This chapter was a bit weird (and mostly a filler) because of the fact that in the book it's really just interactions between Edward and Bella. I wanted to fit Ava in there somehow, but I couldn't do much, so there wasn't a lot of interaction between Bella and Ava. I've got some stuff planned for the next few chapters, and I'm _excited_.

If you liked, please favorite, follow, and REVIEW!

xoxo, Lauren


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